


Different

by BabyRedd



Category: The Outsiders - All Media Types, The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Minor Original Character(s), Not Canon Compliant, OOC Dallas, POV Multiple, POV Outsider, Ponyboy is fifteen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:53:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26168194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabyRedd/pseuds/BabyRedd
Summary: Five times people didn’t believe in Pony and Dallas’s relationship and are proven wrong.Plus the one time someone believed in their relationship from the very beginning.
Relationships: Ponyboy Curtis/Dallas Winston
Comments: 2
Kudos: 84





	Different

**1** **.**

Darrel opens the door to his home. Walking in he sees Pony lounging on the couch looking like a squashed bread loaf.

“Hey,” Pony mumbles.

“Hey,” Darrel responds. He sits down on the stool beside the door and pulls off his shoes.

His sore feet finally take a breath after the 10-hour shift they just suffered through.

Going into the kitchen he grabs dinner out of the fridge and heats it up. He is staring at the yellow-orange light of the microwave as the plate spins inside when his name is called.

“Yeah,” he answers tiredly.

“Can you grab the remote and hand it to me,” Pony asks.

Sighing he looks around the kitchen for it wondering why in the world Pony would bring the remote into the kitchen and then forget it. Not seeing it he turns back to Pony and is about to tell him it’s not in the kitchen when he sees the remote.

On the table. That is right behind Pony’s head.

“it’s on the table behind your head, Pony,”

“I know,”

“If you know then grab it,” Darrel says irritated.

“It’s too much of an effort,”

“To lift up your arm and grab it?”

“Yes,”

Darrel has never wanted to smack someone upside their head so much then at that moment.

“If you don’t leave me alone with that bull you will get smacked to Sunday,”

Pony sighs heavily, “fine, I’ll stop asking you,”

Darrel turns back to the microwave grumbling. He pulls out his food and sits at the kitchen table. As he takes a bite out of his meatloaf he sees Pony reach his hand back and grab... The phone instead of the remote.

“Hey Dal,” Pony says. 

Pony and Dallas have been dating for about three months and Darrel still doesn't think their relationship will last for long. Dallas was always dating some broad and then breaking up with her or vice versa in no more than a month.

It had been a massive surprise when he and Pony had started dating due to Dallys long line of past broads. But just because Dallas is dating a guy who happens to be Pony doesn’t mean Darrel has any delusion Dallas will take things seriously.

Darrel knows Pony is going to be hurt when they break up, but it’s not like he can stop them from dating.

Pony is fifteen now and he can’t protect him from everything, but he can comfort him. So when he and Dallas break up Darrel will be there to comfort his brother.

“Can you come over,” Pony asks.

Darrel assumes Dallas says yes because Pony says-

“Okay, I’ll see you in a few… bye,” Pony puts the phone back and goes back to watching the tv. 

The remote to Darrel’s annoyance is still untouched.

**-Sometime Later-**

Darrel is preparing to go to his room and sleep forever when Dallas walks into the house.

“Do you think you can grab that remote for me?” Pony says pointing at the table behind him.

Darrel snorts and is more than happy to witness the verbal smackdown Dallas is going to give Pony for his stupidity.

“Yeah,” Dallas says.

_ Say what now?! _

He watches in shock as Dallas walks right over, grabs the remote, and hands it to Pony without saying anything about the fact the remote  _ was right there. _

“Thank you,” Pony says leaning up to give Dalla a kiss.

Which is gross. Darrel may not say anything against their relationship but that doesn’t mean he wants to see them kiss.

Dallas lifts Pony’s feet up and sits down on the couch, setting Pony’s legs onto his lap.

Darrel has no idea what he just saw. Walking up the stairs he thinks that maybe just maybe Dallas really cares for Pony since he is so obviously whipped for him.

Maybe they will last.

  
  


**2** **.**

Two-Bit takes a small sip of his beer before he’s forced to go back to pulling the lever on the Ferris wheel that every basic couple goes on because it’s ‘romantic.’

Pulling a lever may not seem hard until you’re standing there for 5 hours constantly straining your eyes to look up at the people on the ride to make sure they're doing everything they’re supposed to.

Like not trying to pee off the side of the damn thing or pull the bars up and try to climb down it. This has happened 12 times in the span of five hours.

There are too many drunk dudes and women who want to show off their pee stream.

Two-Bit is doing his usual routine of going into autopilot and zoning out as the Ferris wheel goes round when he hears Pony’s voice.

“Come on Dal it’s the Ferris wheel. The most romantic ride at carnivals,”

“You mean the corniest,”

Pony sighs, “can we just get on it?”

“No,”

Pony sighs yet again, “I didn’t want to do this, but you gave me no choice,” Pony says.

He closes his eyes and suddenly opens them, his eyes watery and staring up at Dallas. He bats his eyelashes and pouts his lips.

“Your puppy dog eyes aren’t going to work,” Dallas says firmly.

Pony ignores him and continues making the face.

“Please,” he says with a sniffle.

Dallas stares at him, “fine,’ he says.

“Yes!” Pony whoops happily, “Let’s go,” he says, dragging Dallas with him.

When they reach the Ferris wheel Dallas looks right at Two-Bit and looks away quickly. As they wait in line he refuses to look at Two-Bit again even when Two-Bit tries to get his attention.

Laughing Two-Bit waits until they reach the part of the line that causes them to stand right next to him.

“Hey Two-Bit,” Pony says.

“Hey Pony,” his eyes look at Dallas who still won’t look at him,” Hey Dallas,”

Dallas doesn’t say anything until Pony elbows him. 

He sighs as if he’s being put upon, “hi Two-Bit,”

“So uh are you two on a date,” Two-Bit asks, teasing and curious at the same time.

In all the years Two-Bit has known Dallas, Dallas has never been the kind of boyfriend to go on dates and do romantic shit. 

The most Dallas did as a boyfriend was hang out at the park to smoke and warn them when he was being taken to juvie. 

Two-Bit knows it was a surprise to the others that Dallas was bisexual. But it wasn’t a surprise to him because Pony is not the first boy Dallas has dated. 

But Pony is the first boy Dallas has gone on a date with. And that’s what surprises him the most. Because Dallas treats all his relationships the same whether it was a boy or girl. That’s why until now Two-Bit is starting to think that maybe Pony and Dallas’s relationship is different. 

“Yeah,” Dallas answers, staring into Two-Bit’s soul daring him to say something. 

“Cool,” Two-Bit says quickly. 

He may be friends with Dallas but no one is safe from Dallas’s cold harsh anger. 

They climb onto the ride and are given the usual speech to not get out of the seat until you come back down. 

Two-Bit pulls the lever until Two-Bit has to strain his eyes to see them. The most he can tell their doing is talking. 

Or more accurately Pony is talking and Dallas looks like he’s actually listening. 

When they come back down Pony waves goodbye to Two-Bit and they move along. 

Two-Bit being his nosey self yet again listens in on their conversation. 

“What do you think of that bear,” Dallas asks, in his usual gruff voice, and points at a giant red bear hanging over a booth.

“I think it’s cute. Why?”

Dallas doesn’t answer him. He drags him over to the booth and pulls out his wallet. 

He talks to the guy running the booth and then points at the bear. 

The man smiles and rings a bell loudly. 

After working here for a few days Two-Bit knows that means someone is playing the game for the large bear. 

No one has won it yet. 

Smiling Two-Bit turns back to pulling the lever and tries not to laugh when ten minutes later Dallas and Pony walk past with a large red bear wrapped around Pony's back. 

  
  


**3** **.  
**  
Steve thinks the fact that big tough Dallas Winston is not only into guys but is whipped by the one he’s currently dating is hilarious. 

He and Dallas have never really gotten along as well as he and Sodapop did, but that could be applied to everyone in the group. 

Anyway, the point is he and Dallas only ever hung out if everyone (except for Pony) were together so they could get drunk and flirt with girls. 

That was all Steve has ever really seen of Dallas. He knew he was a mean son of a bitch that only cared for a select few people and couldn’t/wouldn’t keep a girl for longer than two months. 

So it was such a surprise when Sodapop told him Dallas and Pony were dating that he laughed. 

He full-on belly laughed until he shed a tear. 

He had realized Sodapop was being serious when he didn’t laugh. 

“For real?”

Sodapop nodded grimly. 

“How did you guys find out,” Steve asked. 

Sodapop sighed, “I had walked into the Pony’s room and they were making out,” he said. 

Steve laughed. It was just ridiculous to hear about Dallas making out in someone’s room like a regular teenager. 

“How did that go,” Steve asked. 

“I don’t wanna talk about it,”

Sodapop after saying that hadn't talked much for the rest of the night. 

Steve is pulled back into the present when he hears Dallas say something to Pony. 

“Do we really need all of this?” He says looking at the shopping cart that has an insect screen, tent, cover, pillows, candles, and a picnic basket. “We’re just having a picnic,”

“Yes, because this is a very romantic picnic,”

“A picnic is romantic with just a blanket and a basket full of food. Besides, why do we need a tent we’re going in the middle of the day and leaving in an hour. We’re not spending the night,”

“We are actually,” Pony says. 

“Why?”

Pony sighs and leans up onto his tippy toes to whisper into Dallas’s ear. When he pulls away Dallas stares at the cart for a moment. 

“How many pillows did you say we needed exactly?”

Pony smiles, “just four. And some other things of course,”

“Whatever you need babe,”

Steve watches them walk off down another aisle and shakes his head. 

Dallas is whipped to the core if he’s willing to go all out and spend a bunch of money just so they can bang in the woods, when the back seat of a car is perfectly fine. 

It must be love.

  
  


**4** **.**

Sodapop knows he overreacted when he saw his brother and Dallas kissing. 

But is it so wrong for him to be worried about his brother dating someone who only kept a girlfriend and apparently boyfriend for no more than two months?

When he had found out them two kissing wasn’t just a one-time thing and they were actually dating he had gone right to Darrel. 

He had thought Darrel would agree with him, but he didn’t. Darrel had said he was fine with them dating and if they broke up that was that. 

Darrel thought they couldn’t protect Pony from everything. 

Sodapop disagrees. It doesn’t feel right to just leave his brother to the proverbial wolf. 

Don’t get him wrong he cares for Dallas, but that didn’t mean he is okay with him dating his little brother. 

His only problem isn’t that Dallas can’t stay in a relationship for long. It’s that Dallas is always getting into fights and is always going in and out of juvie. He is also mean, cold, and jaded. 

Ponyboy is none of those things.

Them dating just doesn’t seem compatible. Not to mention Pony is the type to want romance and vulnerability when in a relationship. 

Dallas doesn’t do romance and he sure as hell doesn’t get vulnerable. 

He had from a young age been taught to be tough and only tough. 

To cut a rant short Sodapop doesn’t see anything good happening with the two of them dating. 

He’s pulled out of his thought when Pony suddenly runs into the house looking terrified. 

His white shirt bloody. 

“Help me get Dally out of the car!” he yells in a panic. 

Sodapop doesn’t ask any questions and follows Pony outside. 

He can see Dallas’s car parked haphazardly in their yard. He opens the back door only to see a bruised and beaten Dallas. 

“What the hell happened?” Sodapop asks pulling an unconscious Dallas out the car. 

Pony grabs his legs and they move carefully into the house. 

“I don’t know. I was sitting in the car while Dallas was getting something from the store. I saw a bunch of Socs leaving the parking lot in a rush. I got a bad feeling and went to check on him. And I found him on the ground unconscious,”

They clear off the kitchen table and place him into it. 

Sodapop turns on the lights as Pony get some rags and water. 

Sodapop grabs the first aid kit and waits for Pony to clean him off so he can patch him up. 

Thankfully, he doesn’t have to stitch anything up but he does use up all the gauze and bandages. 

He’ll have to wait until Dallas wakes up to give him the pain pills. 

“He’ll be okay Pony. He gets into fights all the time,”

“But this wasn’t a fight. He got jumped by ten Socs. No matter how good of a fighter he is he can’t beat ten people,” Pony says his voice cracking. 

“Are you really that worried about him?” Soda says quietly. 

“Of course I am. He’s my boyfriend... and I love him,” Pony says quietly, running his hands through Dallas’s hair. 

If this was any other situation Sodapop would scold Pony for saying something like that. 

They’ve only been dating for three months and Pony has already decided he loves Dallas. 

Sodapop feels scared for Pony. It’s all fun and games to date a ‘bad boy’ that’s cold and mean, but has set his sights on you and makes you feel special by being ‘soft’ with just you. And then you realize his love for you is just temporary lust and he’ll leave without a second glance because he’s a cold and mean person. 

The thing you feel in love with is the same thing that’ll cause him to walk away. 

Sodapop can’t sit there and watch his brother look at Dallas worriedly waiting for him to wake up. 

“I’m going to bed, but let me know if you need me okay,”

Pony nods his head, his eyes still focused on Dallas. 

~~~

Sodapop wakes up and rolls on to his side. He looks at his glowing red clock that flashes 3 am. 

Groaning he gets up to get something to drink. 

Walking down the stairs he stops in the living room when he sees Dallas beginning to stir awake. 

Pony is asleep in a chair in front of the table dead to the world as Dallas looks at him. 

Dallas watches Pony for what seems like forever. 

He finally moves and reaches over to tap Pony awake. 

Sitting up Pony immediately looks to Dallas. 

“You’re awake,” he says with relief. 

“Sadly,”

“Don’t say that. I was so worried about you,” Pony says his voice wobbling, “If they hadn’t stopped you could’ve died,”

Dallas’s face turns guilty, “sorry,” he says. 

“It’s fine just quit with the ‘I kinda want to die’ jokes,”

“Anything you want I’ll give,” Dallas says. 

Pony smiles and leans down to kiss him, “all I want is for you to stay alive and keep loving me,” he responds. 

“Loving you is the easiest thing in the world for me to do,” Dallas replies.

“You better add staying alive to that list,”

“I’ll try,”

Pony groans, “when you heal I’m going to hit you,”

Dallas honest to goodness smiles, “Liar,” he says. 

Sodapop doesn’t know how to feel. Dallas may have had many partners, but he has never pretended or alluded to loving them. 

Which means Dallas does care for Pony and Sodapop doesn’t know if that makes things better or worse. 

  
  


**5** **.**

Johnny is waiting for Ponyboy and Dallas to show up so they can go to the movies as usual. 

Leaning against the red bricks of some abandoned building Johnny wonders if the two of them will show up together. 

They probably will. They may have only been dating for three months, but they stuck to each other like glue. 

Johnny cared about both of his friends deeply, but he’s worried that if Pony and Dallas break up it’ll ruin not only their friendship but the family dynamic the group has. 

Johnny doesn’t want to lose his family because two of them decided to date each other. 

He knows that the others believe that their relationship is different because Dallas is obviously sweet on Pony. 

But Johnny knows just because a relationship is going good and the couple likes each other doesn’t mean they won’t break up eventually. Besides Dallas has been sweet on all the other people he’s dated that’s why he dated them. 

Speaking of the aforementioned couple, Dallas and Pony arrive with their hands interlocked. 

“Hey Johnny,” Pony says. 

“Hey,” Johnny replies, leaning off of the building, “what movie were we going to see,”

“It's the great pumpkin Charlie Brown,” Pony answers. 

Johnny raises a questioning eyebrow at Dallas who only shrugs in return. 

They sneak into the movie theater and find themselves a seat before the movie starts. 

Johnny sees some girls he recognizes from school. One of them is that red-headed girl Cherry. 

Johnny has on occasion seen her walking around the hall with her Soc boyfriend. Every time he’s seen her he always thinks that she’d be Dallas’s type. 

Johnny wonders if Dallas would try to get with her if he wasn’t dating Pony. 

He probably would, but this was no time to think about if’s. The movie is starting. 

~~~

Standing up Johnny stretches. He’s prepared to leave the theater but Pony wants to get a snack before they leave. 

Going to the Concession stand Johnny and Dallas wait for Pony to come back while he buys some stuff. 

He brings back sour patch kids for Dallas and warheads for Johnny. 

“I thought you didn’t like sweets?” Johnny says. 

“I like certain sweets,”

That Pony has apparently memorized. 

“Yo Dallas!” Someone calls out. 

Johnny turns to see who it is and he has no idea who the guy is. 

“Turner,” Dallas says, not moving towards the guy. 

Turner sighs a grin still on his face, “you haven’t changed a bit,”

He walks towards them, “how you been man?”

“Good,”

“That’s great. Considering New York was not a good time for you,” he says. His eyes land on Pony who at some point moved next to Dallas, “who’s this?”

“This is Pony, my boyfriend,”

Huh. Johnny has observed throughout he and Dallas’s friendship that Dallas wasn’t one to openly admit he’s dating someone or claim them until it’s brought up specifically. Dallas could be dating some broad for a month and everyone would think he was single. 

In other words, Dallas didn’t lay claim to his girlfriends, and apparently boyfriends, unless necessary. 

“So your little conquest for the next few months as always,” Turner says. 

Dallas chuckles emptily, “No,” he says putting an arm around Pony and staring Turner down, “This one isn’t temporary I actually love him,”

Turner whistles not fazed by the stare down, “well would you look at that Dallas is in love and not afraid to say it. I’d say the guys would eat you alive when they find out but they’re too afraid to get their ass whooped so they’ll make fun of ya behind your back,”

Johnny zones out as Turner continues to talk to Dallas. 

The group had said Dallas is sweet on Pony not blatantly in love. 

Johnny’s fear that if they break up the family dynamic will be ruined isn’t gone, but he can’t reluctantly admit that the two of them care a lot for each other. 

And maybe their relationship will last far longer than Johnny had expected and hopefully they can still be friends after. 

  
  


**6** **.**

Tim has dealt with Dallas for years. Ever since the kid showed up from New York alone with too much money for an eleven-year-old to have. 

Tim was twelve at the time and already knew this guy would be a handful so it was best to leave him be and be buddy-buddy so he could reap the benefits of hanging around a mean shit like Dallas. 

Tim had only ever lived in his little town so he definitely didn’t want to mess with a kid who lived on the streets of New York for three years alone. The biggest city that’s chock-full of gangs, creeps, and druggies that will gut you for some cash. 

He and Dallas have helped each other out through the years. Tim would let him crash at his place and Dallas would help him hide out from the police when necessary. 

Dallas showed up for his gangs rumbles when asked and Tim pretends like he doesn’t see anything when Dallas knifes somebody without flinching. 

Dallas is cold, probably nuts, and cared for no one. 

At least that’s what Tim thought until he suddenly left Tim’s gang to hang around some knuckleheaded greasers with a future who were more a group of friends than a gang. 

All of em weren’t soft per se except for the youngest one. Who had the tragic name of Ponyboy. 

God did he feel sorry for that kid. 

Anyway, the point being Tim would’ve never guessed Dallas would want anything to do with, compared to them, a couple of softies. 

But he can’t deny that Dallas is practically around them all the time, especially when crashing at the Curtis’s house. 

Everyone who took note of Dallas thought he only cared about the puppy looking kid Johnny, but it was clear to Tim that Dallas cared about the Pony kid too. 

He may obviously care about Johnny but it was his forced indifference towards Ponyboy that Tim took note of. 

Dallas seemed to circle around that kid all the time, but the moment the kid turned his way he acted like he couldn’t be bothered. 

It became really clear to Tim that Dallas had a big ol crush on the kid and was acting like a ten-year-old with their first crush. 

And over the years Tim watches in amusement as Dallas dated a variety of chicks and dudes and breaks up with em after two months. He found it especially amusing that the moment Dallas became single he’d end up crashing at the Curtis’s place despite not hiding out from the cops. 

As the two years pass Tim waits and waits until finally one night he sees the two of them in Dallas’s car trying to eat each other. 

Just to further amuse himself he may or may not have knocked on their window saying Darrel was looking for Pony. 

He’d never seen two people move so fast in his entire life. 

Tim had wondered that night how people would react when they found out tough Dallas was sweet on the soft as warm chocolate Ponyboy. 

But as he had other things to do he goes on about his night. 

And years later since that night, Tim is sitting on his porch watching those two knuckleheads move their crap in next door. 

He can't help but be a little smug that he saw all of this coming first. 


End file.
